Sunday Stretch: Vol. 105, Advent II

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Hi Readers,

Happy Second Sunday of Advent!

Today we celebrate the second word of Advent: PEACE. Just what you’re all feeling exactly right now, right?

Well - hopefully you are feeling more peaceful reading this than I was writing it. My season from Thanksgiving to early December tends to be a very hectic one, with one husband’s birthday thrown in there (love ya, Ben!) plus lots and lots of school events before the kids are off at the end of the month.

In these short days, I long for the peace and stillness of the Advent candles, of a beautiful hymn, of a community of people gathered together in the name of God. I am so grateful to have experienced all of these things already even in the midst of the stress of these weeks. And thank YOU for being a big part of that community.

For more on Peace, here’s something I wrote in 2022 for Advent:

And with that - let’s get to the texts!

Bible Stories

Malachi 3:1-4

Mal. 3:1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. ² But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; ³ he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.^{a 4} Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

Today’s reading comes to us from one of the lesser known prophets, from the final book of the Hebrew Bible (excluding the Apocrypha). The prophet’s name is Malachi, and he writes often of judgement and apocalypse. In this passage, the prophet introduces the theme of refiner’s fire.

I am thinking this morning about what it is like to be refined. When I think of the word I think of other words like “dignity” or “rare.” But to think of a refiner’s fire means to arrive at something that is refined, requires a fire. It requires burning off rough edges and damaged pieces. Fire is painful, but as this Advent week reminds us, it’s also necessary: to refine our souls and bring us peace. May we welcome the refining fire of the Holy Spirit in this week of finding peace.

Questions to Ponder

Do some research about the prophet Malachi. When did he live and what were the circumstances of his writings?

Bonus Question: Which other Hebrew Bible figure is considered to likely also be Malachi? Was Malachi likely actually the prophet’s name?

Messengers are critical to the season of Advent. What is the Greek word for messenger, and what other English word does it sound like?

Philippians 1:3-11

Phil. 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you, ⁴ constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, ⁵ because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart,^a for all of you share in God’s grace^b with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Oh, this is one of my favorite texts. It is often one that I have turned to in the past when thinking of leaving a congregation. These words of gratitude, thankfulness, and love are such a healing balm when preparing to say goodbye. I love too reading Paul in this vein. His love for the church at Philippi is so clear; his compassion and gratitude literally pour out of him, richly and without shame.

Do some reading about the ancient city of Philippi. What was it like? What is it like. now?

Today it seems that Philippi is in ruins. What can we learn from the ruins of the past and the stories they tell?

What do you think Paul means when he says the church at Philippi holds him in their heart? Have you ever held someone you love in your heart? What does that feel like?

Luke 3:1-6

Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler^a of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler^b of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler^c of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

⁵ Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

⁶ and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

This is the text (Luke quotes from Isaiah 40, in the words of John the Baptizer) that is referenced in the above image for this week. Like in the Malachi passage, we see a theme of